Humphree Fin Stabilizers: Clunking Noises and Seawater Leaks
Problem #1: Banging Noises
Humphree's Promise
Humphree promised "ultra-quiet" and "ultra-silent" electric actuation.
Our Experience
At Anchor, our Humphree stabilizers are the opposite of ultra-quiet. Several times each night, they bang so loudly that they wake us from sleep. Guests have wondered if the boat hit something. The video clip above gives some sense of the banging. Humphree factory representatives "fixed" the banging once, but it returned a week later.
Problem #2: Seal Failure, Water Intrusion
Humphree's Promise
Humphree promised a 4-year service interval on the main shaft seals.
Our Experience
Two years after initial installation, and less than a year after major factory service, seawater is leaking into the boat from the Humphree Stabilizers.
The Noise Gets Worse
From Day 1, the Humphree Stabilizer's clunked when going into at-rest, bow-anchor mode.
But as we used the boat, the clunking became more severe and more frequent. At anchor in Hawaii--admittedly difficult conditions--we were woken up several times each night by the banging noise. During the day, guests wondered what happened when the clunking occurred. It seemed like "sloppiness" in the gears or motor might be the cause, and we asked Humphree for help.
Humphree was initially responsive. They claimed they had other boats with similar problems. At one point they suggested a missing shim may be the cause. Other times they thought it was a software problem. After seven months of begging, they sent a crew to Hawaii to perform a fix.
For a few days, things were better. But the clunking quickly returned and is worse than ever. Humphree seems unwilling or unable to fix it.
Making matters worse, Humphree doesn't have dealers that are empowered to work on the system, and they don't provide owners with any resources for troubleshooting or repairing systems while cruising.
Main Shaft Seal Failure
On the way from Fiji to Japan, salt water began appearing in the bilge.
Our midship bilge alarm started going off sporadically, and after some searching (and the usual water-tasting test), we confirmed the water was salt. We traced it back to the port servo, where we found the vent tube for the outer lip seal was consistently pouring water out especially while under pressure when the fin was moving. So, it’s pretty clear that the shaft seals have failed.
Link for video of water coming out of vent tube.
We then packed grease into the Zerk fitting that’s designed for this purpose (it should be said that this was never mentioned to us, after some searching we did find a small excerpt not under troubleshooting but after the service and warranty pages and even then to replace or work on the seals it only makes reference to the “Workshop Manual”, something we don’t have but we would certainly like to have.) The zerk proceeded to take three full tubes of marine grease before it finally started coming out the vent tube.
Now our concern is whether water has made it into the main servo casing itself, possibly contaminating the planetary gears or the servo motor. If anyone has suggestions on how to check for water ingress in the main housing, we’d appreciate it.
This is a frustrating situation, especially considering we’ve done slightly over 9,000 miles in less than a year since Robert and Esmir completely replaced the inner workings (Planetary gears and motor) of the servos. Having to replace seals this often seems completely unreasonable for a system that’s supposed to be ocean-capable.
In regard to customer service, when we hauled the boat out before departing, we were told the system had an original manufacturing error, but we still paid the full bill of $6,340 for the haul-out. We were onboard watching and working on the boat daily during the repair, and based on what we saw, we strongly suspect that the external seals were never actually change, maybe because someone decided it wasn’t necessary. But given the current failure, if that was the decision, it seems extremely short-sighted.
We’re sharing this to connect with others and ask: Are we the only ones experiencing this kind of early failure, or is this a broader manufacturing issue with Humphree systems? We’d especially like to hear from operators of 100-ton+ vessels who’ve put offshore miles and weather extensively through their Humphree fins.
Poor Support and Serviceability
Inadequate Support
Humphree service has proven inadequate for a world-cruising boat. We waited nine months for the initial service, which didn't resolve the issue.
Poor Serviceability
Zincs can only be changed after removing the fin. Gearbox oil can only be changed when hauled out. These systems were not designed for easy serviceability.
About Us
Our History
We have been cruising Starr, our 77' Northern Marine trawler since 2000, accumulating more than 100,000nm under the keel. In 2023, we removed the Naiad stabilizers and replaced them with Humphree stabilizers. The primary objective was quiet, generator-free stabilization-at-rest.